All the following
releases feature pStan Batcow,
as a band member or recording collaborator.

Texas Redneck with a Big CockbyDef-A-Kators

(2009)

"BLACKPOOLPUNK ROCK
MENTALISTS GET EXPERIMENTAL
Apparently, this album took the Def-A-Kators 12 years to release.
As you might imagine, musical styles have shifted like the tides in that
time, so it's through some minor miracle that, er, Texas Redneck with a
Big Cock doesn't sound entirely out at sea. Its occasional psychedelic
bent suggests its creators were listening to a lot of Queens Of The Stone
Age when Josh Homme's troupe were in their prime. The rest of their sound
recalls old school, embryonic pop-punk of the late 70's and 80's. At 27
tracks it's an exhausting listen, but there are bright spots of wit and
invention. [Best track]: Ponk Ist Dood."
-Alistair Lawrence, Kerrang!

"Incendiary’s LP of
the month? Not far off and believe me there’s some strong competition.
Strictly speaking this is the best non-released LP of 1996-98, as the
tracks all date back to that time. Now, how to describe it . . . This is
alien rock in extremis, (albeit accessible to the point of it being
slightly cartoony). Nothing here is being created from an acceptance of
anything at all, when placed against even acceptable and credible
“independent” music The Def-A-Kators’ LP might as well come
from another dimension.
As with all Pumf releases there’s hyperactive, questioning air to
the music, music that sometimes wanders into surreal subject matter. Ponk
Ist Dood seems to be about shitting on cars as a form of sexual
release and the gloriously anthemic A Bedtime Story for Mechanical Owls
is some sort of tribute to the Clangers. I think.
The “style” is straight-down-the-line rock, almost on the verge of
parody, with cod flourishes drawn from Crass to New Order via the Damned;
“big” drum/snare sounds, eighties style. And then there’s the
question of those horse noises in Deliverance . . . Now and again
it has a heavy garage-band Fall vibe (Impaler) or a monstrously
overbearing Glam-Goth vibe that veers uncomfortably towards Billy Idol
before running off laughing (Gulag). Or even feisty C86 (Object).
But that is in some ways to be expected as anything out of the Pumf
stable seems to enjoy monstrous sonic notions . . .
As I write this, the press marks the passing of director John Hughes,
whose soundtracks were so celebrated at the time for their use of
independent music . . . Now imagine, in a parallel, slightly more warped
universe, Texas Redneck with a Big Cock would be the soundtrack LP
for the Breakfast Club. Think on."
- Richard Foster, Incendiary

"TEXAS REDNECK WITH A
BIG COCK - Yes, you did read correctly . . . The Def-A-Kators have
been in existence since 1986, originally forming "in order to parody
the mindless idiocy that most punk bands of the time were displaying,
hence the name, one chord thrash & mindless lyrics"! The new
album Texas Redneck with a Big Cock, was recorded in part, back in
the nineties when the band first reformed. Another decade on, the
album is finally finished and gets a release through the excellent Pumf
Records, a truly unique label. Do not miss out on this album . . . as
an added bonus it will only cost you a fiver!"
- album of the week, August 14th
2oo9, StarshipOverflow.com

"They describe their music as 'a guitar-based sonic
triumvirate collision of synaptic überpop designed to stimulate both the head and the
foot gland' . . . however, [this album] is a lively slice of what we are missing -
particularly the instrumental 'Scurvy', a cross between Link Wray's cult classic Rumble
and the cutting room floor of a Tarantino soundtrack . . . other tracks are 'Object' - a
punchy road rage tribute - and 'P.118', a salsa led item as hot as last night's left-over
chilli."
- Robin Duke, Evening Gazette, 1996

"What fresh hell is
this? Texas Redneck
We get sent plenty of albums to be reviewed at Crack House. Some cause
chirrups of delight, some are just plain terrible, and some don’t even
merit a cursory listen.
We’ve never played this album, but it can’t be any good. It’s simply
not possible. Entitled Texas Redneck with a Big Cock it comes
complete with a sleeve image of a bloke in a ten gallon hat walking along
with an oversize cockerel on a piece of rope. Now ignoring the fact that
the bloke in the pic is more “cowboy” than “redneck” it’s still
a pretty lame “joke”. The infantilism of the whole shabby enterprise
was sealed for me however by noting with some distain that the album is by
a band called The Def-A-Kators. The Def-A-Kators, for
fuck’s sake. Texas Redneck With A Big Cock by The Def-A-Kators
and a picture of a cowboy and a huge cockerel. If ever there was a
collection of words and images designed not to make you play an album,
then here they are. The band image on the back depicts Duke Box
(frilly snooker shirt circa 1978), Count Basic (elder statesmen of
the hanging-around-Old-Eldon-Square posse) and Sgt. Panic (Mick
Hucknell after a hunger-strike wearing an old Nelson Mandela shirt).
It’s not a trio that makes you feel any more inclined to slapping this
on."
- RM, The Crack

If, for whatever warped, twisted
reason, you feel the need to check out more about the Def-A-Kators, an extensive history can
be found at www.templeofdin.co.uk.

Seven or
The Union Won't Wear ItbyHeffalump
Trap

(2008)

"Percussive heavy
instrumental noise-rock"
- Smart King Dan

"Well, let's face it,
in musical terms 2008 was fucking dire. The Fall plodded on with Imperial
Wax Solvent (better than their last LP but that's not saying a great deal
is it?). Honourable mentions to Portishead, Mark Stewart, Stereolab and 1
or 2 others. So to find the true gem of 2008 you will have to dig a little
deeper. Quite a lot deeper in fact. So please be upstanding for Seven
or The Union Won't Wear It by Heffalump Trap. Yeah!
The Trap describe themselves as spacedronenoiserock unit which is as good
a description as any. Imagine very early Ash Ra Tempel jamming with
Einsturzende Neubauten on Mars and you may be slightly close. You will be
lulled and feel as though you are about to leave your body, only to be
slapped with a percussive attack and then bulldozed with bass. This is
fucking great stuff and perhaps the most genuinely psychedelic music I've
heard in the last 20 years. Forget the chin-stroking post rock guff, this
is the real deal, repetition, slow rising crescendos, planets slowly dying
and . . . well you get the picture. Imagine an alternate universe where
Ummagumma was made by insane Lancashire types instead of middle class
architecture students. You owe it to yourself . . . Get Trapped!"
- Melodramatic Monkey

for the kids in
Nigeria byHedgehog in Bracken

(2007)

"I watched the audience
carefully, and only about half of them got it. The rest were a bit confused.
Enjoyed the chocolate though; thanks."
- The promoter of the gig where this was recorded

Wrack and Roll byBlunt Instrument (2003)

".
. . the wrack n roll cd - got it the other day and I like it.
Reminds me a bit of Nick Cave and perhaps
Julian Cope but . . . kinda like they were
having a fight in a sausage factory. I don't really think it's that much more 'commercial' .
. . I'd say it's probably more 'accessible' .
. . But still only as accessible as a wheelchair ramp with a police stinger on it."
- Andy Paciorek

".
. . its got a sort of Beefheart feel."
- John Tree

".
. . new band called Blunt Instrument. It's just two
guys . . . They play this sort of electronically enhanced rock/pop/artrock/artpop/electro hybrid that I can't quite describe.
[sleeve] notes seem to indicate that the lyrics came from some sort of '30s/'40s/'60s anti-war songs (or songs about the war effort at the time) and other such concerns. All very confusing and illuminating, but in that way that makes me want to go check it out one more time. I love the riffs, there's some real knockout, drag-out, hook heavy tunes that have stuck with me. While I'm convinced that Simon is one of the best rock n' roll growlers of our time, this fellow Stan definitely shows off some fine vocal skills himself, more in a soulful vein
. . ."
- Chris Sienko, Migidum
Bligablum, 2003

"It
is on heavy rotation on my CD player. I love the way the songs sound new
but strangely familiar."
- Phil Smith

"Thirty
tracks make up this curio from Pumf, and whilst it will take a lot to beat
Howl in the Typewriter . . . Wrack and Roll is still a lot
of fun. Tracks like A Song About Flowers, Tomorrow Is The Day,
Hail To The Chiefs, Track Nine and quite a few others all
have a certain lo-fi, low production and 'demo' quality about them, yet
are incredibly good. I love the way that some of the tracks use 'found'
sounds; the radio, audience applause etc., which gives an added something.
Many will say that the album isn't exactly in the running for mass media
attention, it's a perfect example of simply getting up there and having a
go. There is a certain amount of spontaneity that comes across with many
of the songs. Hell, it's an album to put a smile on your face."
Dave W, Modern Dance, 2003

"Hmmm.
Good CD here, this Wrack and Roll. It may be a wanky thing to say but
it's really well produced – doesn't have that 'oh – a drum
machine and cubase' sound to it. Reminds me of Cockney Rebel
and Guns 'n' Roses (well a bit) for some reason. It's also nice to
hear “song” songs that don't make me cringe."
- Laurence Burton

"This
is wonderful stuff. At best, it's well-constructed pop (in the same way
that Pretty Vacant is well-constructed pop). Clever pop. It's kind
of punk, as well, but more like American punk than UK punk - there are
elements of Dead Kennedys in bits of Burn Baby Burn and the 'Ooh
baby' track.
It's kind of camp and stylised, like the best US bands - lots of stolen
spy-movie riffs. I'd have to mention Devo, Black Sabbath and the Macc
Lads, which paints a lovely picture of the band - robotic drug-casualties
from 'Oop North'. (The album)'s got great slidey guitar on it - I really
think pStan should be guitar player for the Residents (thought who's to
say he isn't?). This is an excellent bunch of songs, and all good enough
that I think it has 'commercial' potential - I could imagine these tracks
on the radio, and I could imagine loads of 'disaffected youth' out there
who would buy an LP of this . . . right now - I'm your NUMBER ONE FAN."
- Stream Angel

it was a foot! byMichael Aspel's Flying Saucers

(2002)

"Dense and impenetrable, this album left
me dazed and bewildered. Subject matter veers from an oblique look at the dangers of
drink-driving, to product development, to a lengthy piece designed to induce post-hypnotic
hatred of children - I'm convinced that my mindset is radically different after listening
to this, and I'm waiting for the subliminal trigger that sees me exploding in an orgy of
miasmic rage, slaughtering any children in the immediate vicinity. On the bonus side,
however, I'm now a firm believer in extra-terrestrial life."- Laurence Burton

Rorschach Ink Blot Testing byRrrrrrr (1998)

"Not
a Japanese gentleman screaming about women’s knickers over a wall of
feedback, as the name of the band would seem to suggest . . . It’s
a bit lo-fi, but not so much as to make an ironic virtue of the fact. It
sounds like the authors spent a fair bit of time and energy working on
bits of each other’s music, and that energy shows. This is broad
experimentation, just seeing what the other participant is going to throw
back, and as such spans a schizophrenic range of moods and styles as each
compensates or messes with the others diverse offerings. We go through
bubbling techno to er . . . stadium folk to tape collage and back all
chopped up with peculiar snatches of spoken word. What is communicated
most vividly by this cassette is the sheer excitement that the Rrrrrrr
boys must have felt waiting to see what would come out the other end of
their musical sausage machine. The sense of the unexpected is strong - not
to mention witty - without it all sounding like hopeless indulgence that
could only possibly resonate with those directly involved. Back
in the “good old days” there was a hardcore of people who only
listened to home-produced tapes such as this. It might seem a little
eccentric and peculiar but if you listen to this cassette and then see ask
yourself how many records from 1986 (for example) you couldn’t live
without - you’ll find it ain’t such a crazy notion after all."
- War Arrow, The Sound Projector, 2002

"I
find it puzzling; I can't make up my mind about it. How I feel about it
seems to vary, perhaps according to my own mood. Sometimes I listen to it
and it seems like an incredible 'out there' wild punk version of the best
and most hilarious dashes of Nurse with Wound - a masterpiece of caveman
'head' music. Then other times I listen to it, it just seems drab and
depressing. Well, the truth must be that neither of these viewpoints is
truly accurate, and the truth must be somewhere else . . . but where?"
- Stream Angel

In the Beginning there was Shite
(various artists)

(1997 - original Pumf release dates next to
artiste's name)

Features the musics of A-void
(1984), Of Sound Mind(1984), The Howl in
the Typewriter (duo - 1985), Sign Language(1985),
The Peoples Temple(1985), Henrys Farm
and Henry(1987).

Six of the earliest Pumf releases - now
deleted - gave up their best bits for inclusion on this compilation.

"It's certainly a step back
in time, being from the mid 80's, a period which is now receiving the demonisation that
was meted out to the 70's by a fickle public only fifteen years ago, when of course any
fool knows that he real enemy is the 60's . . . most of the tracks are fairly respectable
recordings of the sort of groups I always ended up seeing in pubs around the time: Joy
Division basslines and a fine array of effects pedals being stamped upon randomly by a
spiky guitarist, before the word 'gothic' came into wide usage and took up its rightful
place as an insult of a strength which placed it somewhere between 'slack-jawed arsehole'
and 'Chelsea supporter'. This was when there seemed to be bands in pubs everywhere, none
of which were covers-orientated, and most of which had some ambition beyond just sounding
like a fusion of their favourite records . . . give it another ten years and a new
generation of tediously ironic little turds will probably be bending over backwards to
breathe new commercially viable life into this sort of stuff. Therefore a more appropriate
title would probably be, In The End There Will Be Shite, because there's nothing wrong
with this lot."
- War Arrow, The Sound Projector, 2000

Pumf up the Volume (various
artists)

(1994)

Features Cabbage Head, Ceramic
Hobs, Dandelion Adventure, Def-A-Kators,
Howl in the Typewriter, Jah Rizlafoureye and the Heady Bread
Beast, Judge Mental and the Heavy Dread Beat, Orange
Sunshine, Raw Veg, Salty Grouse Castration Squad,
Satan the Jesus Barmy Army, and SWANC.
Comes with a booklet; this is an extremely good starting point to attune your ears to the
world of Pumf.

"(Pumf up the Volume)
is weird and wonderful. A perfect introduction to the musical world of (Pumf)
. . . I'm very impressed with the Cabbage Head tracks, and the Heavy
Dread Beat tracks are killers too . . . in fact, Brainfuck is
my favourite track on the whole tape . . . from the stripped-down
minimalism to the Northern cynicism, even to the strange track titles and
the structure of the lyrics and the fact that they're enigmatic and don't
really show which side of the fence the writer's on, (the album) reminds
me of The Fall."
- Stream Angel

Pet Sounds byBlackpool Beach Boys and Girl

(1995)

Simon & Syd of the original (1985-88)
Ceramic Hobs join the Batcow to work on an ambitious cover version project, working on an
entire album. Lizzy also came on board for this project - this is possibly the only
official release of work featuring her, and it is in some way dedicated to her memory.
(16/11/68 - 27/3/96)

Were on a Round Robin to
Hell byDef-A-Kators

(1993, compiled from recordings in 1987/88)

"The much talked about but rarely seen
post-punk band the Def-A-Kators have finally got their act together . . . it's not the
sort of stuff which will have Mike Smith reaching for his tape deck but even the likes of
John Peel would be hard pushed to hear everything that is going on . . . there are some
interesting (if not exactly earth stoppingly original) ideas here but the quality of the
recording hides many of them under blur, distortion and general tape hiss. Perhaps that's
what the band means when it describes its music as 'self-explanatory'."
- Robin Duke, Evening Gazette, 1993

The Amazing Ron Brewer - Donkey Man byBarbara Dwyer

(1987)

After the resounding success of the debut
6-part Barbara Dwyer concept piece released as part of the BILE!
recordings, Gerry Attric and Hospie Talward teamed up once again with 'Nelson' Batcow to
produce this full-length album. Phew. There'd have been no stopping them if they could
have been bothered to record anything else again, afterward.

"This may seem like kind
of an arbitrary choice [to review] in the Pumf library. I mean, there's
still . . . stuff done more recently than 1987 too! Well, what can I say . .
. I really like Barbara Dwyer. Actually, I don't know Barbara Dwyer,
but some friends I go to the bar with can vouch for her. Anyway, Barbara
Dwyer was a one-off project with Stan Batcow and some other pseudonym'd
folks. The roots of this project can be heard on the BILE! Tape
(reviewed eventually), when it was going to be a band, or something else not
as good. Well, it never panned out, but in the interest of keeping the name
going, Stan solicited tapes from all participants, and made something
different. This tape is a collage of stuff . . . literally, stuff. Refuse.
Gems. Bits. Crumbs. Stuff off the TV, people talking and ranting, bands
playing or practicing, bits from the movie of the week, noises, whooshes.
Y'know, stuff. All grandly and simply edited into a tape that is both
listenable and very, very muddy. Like if P16.D4 got really hammered and
decided to futz with tapes and home movies instead of culturally
'significant' things. I say hammered / drunk not because this sounds drunken
(or poorly constructed), but because it would probably take a night of
strong drink to loosen P 16.D4 enough to get them this personal and fun.
There's jams, TV shows / game shows / The Three Stooges (it's easy to get
wrapped up in a tape of a linear plot, and very easy to disorient with just
a few whisks of the editing razor), hot guitar freakouts, a great collage
of'30s jazz sounds, some mumbledygook that I couldn't make out near the end
of the tape that goes on for a long time, and more. If you give any sort of
a shit about getting C-60s in the mail that make you want to root through
your own home tape recordings and stitch a few of'em together,
Frankenstein-style (or even send them off to Stan for a collabo), you should
get on this one."
- Chris Sienko, Migidum Bligablum, 2003

The following trilogy of recordings
spans some twelve years, with the only constant being Stan Batcow.
Other musicians, lyricists,
collaborators etc. drifted, satellite-like, in and out of the recording environment at
whim

It’s Now or
Never! byBILE!

(1986)

Cheesecake and Chips byTroll

(1988)

Blessed is the Norm - Watch thou
for the Mutant byGravelin

(1997)

"Wow, I like this bit!
Classic 60's chord progressions - sort of 'go-go' music with a sampled
voice. Wowser - it could be the theme for a movie - 'Blackpool Topless' .
. . standing on top of the Tower of Babel and words spew forth to turn
into beautiful gibberish in mid-air. Solid backing - solid as a soul
sandwich. It's beautiful! Lots of real 'reggae-heads' and 'dub' fans would
probably freak out at this, though - the manicness of the vocals. This is
full of buoyancy, vim and vigour. Great fun too."- Stream Angel